Kizuna
by DarkSwordsman1099
Summary: Fairy Tail. They protect their own, they stick together, they fight together, they grow together. Even if they travel down different paths...they are all family WARNING: THERE ARE ARE GOING TO BE OCs IN THIS FANFIC. WARNING: THIS IS MY FIRST FAIRY TAIL FANFIC, EXPECT IMMENSE FAILURE
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Makarov Dreyar was very small for his age. He stood at a height that made a child look tall, and he was very old. Eighty eight years of age to be exact. He was a very friendly person who viewed all the members of the guild he was in as his family. He was also the Third Guild Master of that same guild, Fairy Tail, and he was proud of it. He was currently dressed in less formal clothes than he would normally, simply wearing black trousers along with a white shirt with a red vest over it. A high collared cape was over the attire with the mark of Fairy Tail present on the back of it.

Right now though, the man was simply furious. There was no other way to describe his anger. The only way to understand why though was to look back on what was happening. Because it all revolved around one man currently. His grandson.

Fairy Tail was found in the city of Magnolia. With a population of over sixty thousand, it was a busy place. At this time of the year though, there were thousands more. People from all over had come to Magnolia for one purpose. They wanted to see the Fantasia Parade.

It was a annual event held by the guild, a chance to show off with their magic in more creative ways or even just to have some fun. Makarov himself was part of the latter group as his main Magic wasn't the type to be creative compared to other Mages.

The moment he heard that his grandson Laxus was back in town, he felt like something was wrong. Was it premonition? Was it simply his mind exaggerating his grandson's actions recently? All that he was certain of was that something was off, that danger was close by. But Laxus was his grandson so he repressed that feeling, a hint of guilt seeping into his thoughts at doubting Laxus. The boy had been distant lately and his attitude left something to be desired but he was still a member of Fairy Tail and he shouldn't doubt family.

Time passed and he heard of an incident with Laxus and one of their new members, Gajeel Redfox. It wasn't too unexpected knowing how Laxus thought. Gajeel had attacked Fairy Tail when he was a member of Phantom Lord and most of the guild had been hostile to him when he joined. Laxus just took it a bit too far, that's all. He certainly didn't want to believe the rumours that Gajeel had jumped in front of an attack meant for Levy, purely because that meant that his grandson would have meant to attack a fellow guild member.

So once again, he repressed his doubts and focused on the upcoming parade. They always liked to outdo the previous year and they had a few new members who could put on quite a show. Gray and Juvia could be a good pair together for one of the floats.

The Miss Fairy Tail Contest happened then, something akin to an opening for the festival later on. A lot of the female members had joined. First was the local drunk of the guild, Cana Alberona, the Card Magic Mage. She was one of the first members of the newer generation and was fairly skilled. She had been put up for S-Class multiple times though she hadn't made it yet. She was close though.

After her was Juvia Lockser, a former S-Class Mage of Phantom Lord before it was disbanded. She was known for her use of Water Magic though he himself wondered if there was more to it. She could make her body into a form that was completely made of water and that wasn't something a normal Water Mage could do.

Mirajane Strauss was next. She used to be known simply as 'The Demon' due to her Take Over Magic being used to control the power of a variety of Demons. She was an S-Class Mage but due to the incident with her sister… well it wasn't good to think about. Mirajane hadn't been the same since she returned. Sure, she was nice and friendly now, but she had lost that something that had made her Mirajane. She lost her will.

Next was one of the guild's strongest, Erza Scarlet. She was one of the five current S-Class Mages of the guild, the others being Laxus, Mystogan, Gildarts Clive, and - Makarov winced as he thought about him- Tristan Saelma. She was incredible strong. Natsu and Gray fought each other all the time yet her mere presence sent them cowering and acting like they were the best of pals. She even scared him sometimes.

Her little performance involved using some manipulation of her own Magic, Requip. Sure, any Requip Mage could do such a thing but everyone there knew hers was superior to any other. The speed she could use it at along with being able to requip both weapons and armour at the same time, even while fighting, made her well known. Titania, the Queen of the Fairies.

He had snapped out of his thoughts with the appearance of the one of their quieter members, Levy McGarden, a member of Team Shadow Gear along with Jet and Droy. It always surprised Makarov how oblivious Levy was to her teammates obvious affection for her. She made a short show using her Solid Script Magic before disappearing once again.

Another Requip Mage appeared next, only she used Gun Magic instead of Sword Magic. Bisca Mulan was a great shot with a rifle and managed to shot through all four coins she threw up with one hit. He could even hear the sound of Alzack over the crowds, cheering for her. It always made for a funny joke on how everyone knew they liked each other but neither knew that their feelings were mutual.

Lastly was one of their newer members, a girl called Lucy Heartfilia. While her Magic was widely heard of, it was rare for someone to pick it up due to the strongest abilities being restricted. She was a Celestial Spirit Mage after all and there were only twelve Golden Zodiac Keys. She was lucky enough to have six of them in total. It made you wonder what could happen if you managed to possess them all.

And that's when everything went wrong. Every one of the girls that were competing had been turned to stone. And it was her doing. Evergreen. She was known for her Secondary Magic being able to turn her enemies to stone, and for some reason she had decided to use it on her own guild mates.

Over to the side Freed Justine and Bickslow had appeared, sitting above them all. He didn't even know when they suddenly arrived, but he knew that something was up. Together, they were known as the Thunder God Tribe, Laxus's personal bodyguards.

And then Laxus had made his appearance. There three were acting under his orders and he declared that the battle of Fairy Tail was beginning. If they didn't comply, the frozen girls would die.

Every member of the guild got the message. They ran for the exit and began to scour the city, searching for the Thunder God Tribe and Laxus himself, determined to defeat them.

They should have all split up and not worked together. Freed had prepared the battlefield perfectly for them and the guild continued to get caught in trap after trap, where guild members were forced to fight amongst themselves to proceed. He could feel his heart breaking from the damage his grandson was causing among his guild.

Then Laxus showed his hand. He wanted to be the Guild Master of Fairy Tail, and was determined to do anything to get it.

He would have gone out to stop him if it wasn't for the runes blocking the exit for anyone over eighty or if they were stone statue.

The Guild Master sighed as he looked up towards the runes by the door. "Only two people are left."

"Why the hell can't you get out, huh? Stop copying me!"

"Like hell I know, Salamander. I'm not doing anything here."

Makarov frowned as he looked towards the two voices arguing. One was Gajeel, the Iron Dragon Slayer. The other was Natsu Dragneel, the Fire Dragon Slayer, also known as Salamander. The two were an odd pair but they were definitely some of the guild's strongest members. Dragon Slayer Magic was very destructive due to its immense power, and it was rare to find users of it as only Dragons could teach Humans the Magic.

Makarov turned his gaze back to the runes. "Two, left huh?" he muttered, eyes suddenly widening as he turned back to the two Dragon Slayers. "Don't tell me you two are the only ones left!" he shouted frantically.

"Why don't I count?!" shouted Happy, a blue, talking cat that used magic to fly.

Makarov could feel the despair closing in as he began to pace around the guild hall. His entire guild, his entire family, had been defeated, by each other and by the Thunder God Tribe. Natsu and Gajeel were both trapped within the guild hall by the runes, for reasons none of the three knew. There was no one left to battle, and he wasn't allowed to leave the guild hall either, due to the age restriction Freed had placed on the rune barrier. Was this the end of Fairy Tail?

"No choice then," Makarov spun around to see Natsu walking towards the statues. "I'll have to revive Erza. And here I was looking forward to fighting her..."

"WHAAAAAT?!"

Makarov tried to calm himself down. "J-just wait a second, Natsu. What are you talking about?"

"Ummm isn't obvious? If I burn the stone, it will melt, right?" Natsu replied, staring at Makarov like he was stupid.

"ARE YOU AN IDIOT?! DON'T DO IT!" Makarov screamed at the pinkette.

"We won't know until we try, right?" Natsu asked as he placed his hands above Erza's statue and activated his magic, causing them to burst into flames.

"Yes, we do! Are you trying to kill her?"

"Broil her nice and good!" Natsu cackled insanely, lowering his hands...

The argument halted at the sound of a sudden crack. They took one look at Erza's statute, where a crack had appeared, and went into full blown panic mode.

"CRAP! She cracked!" Natsu cried desperately. "Happy, get glue!"

"Aye sir!"

"You idiot! Do you think that will actually work?" Natsu turned to look at Gajeel, who had turned his right arm into iron. "Melt down my iron and we'll weld her back together!"

"You're both idiots!" Makarov roared.

The cracks kept appearing, and Natsu got and his knees and bowed to the statue repeatedly, shouting "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

There was a final crack, and the statue shattered. Instead of seeing a million rock pieces, however, they saw Erza, perfectly fine.

Erza took one look around the room before glaring menacingly at Natsu. "I feel hot...is this your doing, Natsu?"

The requip mage stood slowly, dusting off a few specks of stone before she brought her fist back and smashed the two dragon slayers into into a nearby wall.

"Erza!" Happy cheered, flying in circles around her ecstatically.

"Erza," the redhead looked down at the guild master when he called her name. "How...?"

"I...don't know," Erza admitted. "Perhaps it was my right eye?"

Makarov nodded in understanding. It was entirely possible. The Magic of Stone Eyes worked by making eye contact, as many types of Eye Magic did. Erza had only one real eye, however, the other having been destroyed before she arrived at Fairy Tail. The artificial eye Porlyusica had made for her must have cut the power of Evergreen's magic in half, since it only affected her left eye.

"Do you know what is going on?" asked Happy.

"Yeah. I heard everything."

A smile grew on Makarov's face. They had a chance now. Erza was free and with her, they could strike back. She could freely exit the runes now and take on the Thunder God Tribe.

"These runes really are impressive." Makarov turned towards what Erza was referring to as she walked towards the door of the guild. "They realised I can fight and so added me to the roster. So with three people, I assume that is me, Natsu, and Gajeel."

Before anyone could say anything, the runes changed again, the number increasing to four.

"It went up…" muttered Gajeel.

Natsu spun round the room furiously, looking for the culprit. "Who?"

Makarov was doing a similar thing. "All the girls are still frozen."

Erza though smiled as she realised what had happened. "It looks like another player has decided to take part in this little battle of ours."

The Guild Master looked up at the runes before he realised what Erza was implying. Gildarts was still away on a mission, and Tristan was...out of the question, he wasn't coming back yet. Erza was here and Laxus was an enemy. That left one man. Mystogan.

* * *

Far away in the center of Magnolia stood a large cathedral, known as Kardia Cathedral, and was the current headquarters for Laxus while the guild fought amongst themselves. He was currently waiting, letting what he referred to as the trash get wiped out until only the strongest remained.

Right now though, he was bored. The numbers had dwindled down too much. No one was left except for Natsu and Gajeel. He couldn't believe the nerve of Gramps, letting in that Phantom Lord trash. Disgusting.

He had hoped at least one of the Thunder God Tribe would have lost. Maybe then, they could have proved to him that the guild was strong. Elfman and Gray had seemed promising, but in the end, they had failed. Sure, they put up a better fight than most of the others, yet they still lost in the end.

His only other source of amusement had been watching Alzack's progress. He took down member after member when they were caught as he searched relentlessly for them. He failed when he reached Freed though. Shame in a way. The Gun Mage had a lot potential with that much dedication.

He had recently made his little announcement to his grandfather, demanding the title of Guild Master be passed over to him. With it, he would remake Fairy Tail. He would make it stronger.

An alert on the runes nearby caught his attention. He turned to it and smiled in anticipation. Erza and Mystogan were both into the tournament now. Disregarding Gildarts and Tristan, who both weren't coming back, that was almost all of Fairy Tail's strongest members. Mirajane was out of action even if she recovered. She didn't have that edge she had as 'The Demon' and even if she recovered it, she wouldn't be effective after so long of inactivity. There was those Dragon Slayers to consider as well but they weren't worth his time. They had potential, he couldn't deny that, but it wasn't complete yet. They would have a long way to go to force him to get serious against them.

"This is just like what a festival should be." No one heard his soft mutterings but no one needed to. He chuckled as he tried to imagine who would reach him first. Would Erza find him or would she get caught up with someone and allow Mystogan to have first shot. He knew the man's little secret however so he could always use that to unbalance him. And Erza if she was there with him.

"Just a bit longer. I'll create the perfect guild. I'll change Fairy Tail, and make it truly strong!"

* * *

Makarov could do nothing but pace. He didn't know what to do while he waited. Erza had gone out and not long after, the runes had show that a fight had begun. Erza was fighting Evergreen. It was the Queen of the Fairies against a user of Fairy Magic.

Had Evergreen grown stronger than last time he had seen her? It had been quite a long time and if the Stone Eyes were anything to go by, she was tougher than before. Last time, the eyes' effect didn't last as long as it did when held on too many people. She must have worked hard to increase the limit. It made him proud-

He cut of that line of thought quickly. She was an enemy right now. He couldn't be proud of her improvements despite her still being a member of Fairy Tail. Right now, they had the girls still frozen to worry about. They were still hostages under her will.

The cracking of stone caught their attention causing all the occupants not turned to stone in the room to turn towards the sound. One by one, the girls unfroze, returning to their normal selves.

"What's going on?" asked Lucy.

Juvia looked just as confused. "What happened to Juvia?"

"Ah!" Everyone turned towards Natsu. "You're all back."

Happy crashed into Lucy. "Lucy! You're okay!"

Makarov looked towards the runes in pride. Erza did it. She defeated Evergreen and, with her loss, the girls had been released from the spell. The question waiting now was what would Laxus do now? He wouldn't give up after going so far. His hostages were gone though, so would that make him more desperate. That wouldn't be good if it did.

He noticed Natsu was currently filling the girls in on what was happening.

"Laxus pulled something like that?" Makarov approached just in time to hear Levy's horrified question.

"It doesn't matter anymore," he said. "It's all over. None of you are petrified anymore, so Laxus has no hostages left. This ridiculous game of his is over."

"But Master…" Makarov turned towards Mirajane, her face looking down at the ground in sadness. "What about everyone who was caught in Freed's traps. Some of them would have gotten seriously hurt."

"That's right," joined in Bisca. "Laxus needs to be punished. He's gone too far."

Makarov couldn't help but agree with them all. "Don't worry about him. I'll be talking to him about what he had done later. I can't understand why he has gone so far as he has."

"Hold it!" a certain pinkette's voice demanded

Everyone turned to him, Natsu holding up one of his hands to reinforce the effect he was going for. He waited until they were all focused on him before he crossed his arms and continued.

"I know all you think what Laxus did was wrong, and I have to admit the way he did it wasn't right, but is there anything wrong with finding out who is the strongest in Fairy Tail is there? So just don't be too hard on the guy will you."

Makarov couldn't help but look at the pink haired Mage in front of him in amazement and shock. Natsu was simply something else. To him, everyone had that speck of light in them, that piece that made them good.

"Now let's start the Second Battle of Fairy Tail!" Natsu exclaimed suddenly. "Let's begin!"

"WHAT?!" The entire guild left in the building roared, perfectly in sync.

"Come on, I haven't fought anyone yet! Bring it on!" the son of Igneel cried, punching the air.

Lucy just shook her head at Natsu's antics. "Please stop. Coming from you, it's hard to tell if you're joking or not."

Cana took a swing from one of the bottles at the bar before smiling towards Natsu. "If you really want to go, then bring it on. I'll take you down."

"Don't encourage him Cana," said Bisca.

Makarov sighed in relief before he stopped something odd happening with the runes. Levy had noticed it too and pointed it out to the others. The runes all gathered towards the centre of the room before they formed a giant skull of runes. Then Laxus's voice spoke.

"Can you hear me Gramps? What about the rest of you in the Guild?"

"What do you want?" Natsu demanded. Laxus carried on, ignoring Natsu's demand.

"It seems one of the rules will no longer work. You'll all need a new incentive to keep playing. So to make things more fun, I've activated the Thunder Palace."

Makarov felt his entire body freeze in fear. "The Thunder Palace! You can't be serious!"

"One one hour and ten minutes left Fairy Tail. Can you win? Or will you hand over Fairy Tail to me? Choose well."

The runes scatter back to their original places, Makarov shaking in anger.

"What are you thinking Laxus! Are you planning to drag innocents into this?"

Pain filled his body as his hands grasped his chest. It happened in slow motion to everyone as their Guild Master fell to the ground, clutching his chest at where his heart was.

"Jii-chan!"

Mirajane rushed over to him. "This is bad, he needs his medicine!"

"What's Thunder Palace, Jii-chan? Jii-chan?!"

Makarov couldn't answer no matter how much he wanted to. He was simply in too much pain.

"Up here," called Bisca from the stairs.

Natsu got his answer soon enough though. While Mirajane took the Master to the infirmary, he and the others had gone to the roof. They could see what Bisca had spotted there. All around the town were positioned were Lacrima Orbs filled to the brim with Lightning Magic. They understood what Laxus planned to do now. When time ran out, the Lacrima would release the energy stored within them in the form of Thunder, pouring down towards the town. The city of Magnolia was now his hostage, and they would never be able to evacuate in time, especially if Freed had edited his runes to stop the Civilians from escaping.

Bisca found out the protection they had soon enough as well. She had fired a shot at one of them and destroyed it easily. Then she was hit by the same amount of damage she had inflicted. The Lacrima had been protected by Organic Link Magic.

Natsu was completely furious. He was repeatedly slamming himself against the wall, trying to break free and putting as much power as he could into breaking through. He could swear he could hear Laxus laughing at them and the situation he had put them in.

"Natsu!" Levy said. "Stop!"

"Like hell I will! Damn it, why can't I get through?!"

"Please, stop!" Levy cried. "I can get you out of here!" Natsu immediately stopped to look at her.

"Freed's Magic is a type of Letter Magic," she explained slowly, making sure everyone was following her. "The runes surrounding the guild and the city are a style known as Jutsu Shiki. They can take a while to set up but they have absolute rules. They are almost impossible to break out of but their weakness is that they can be edited."

Levy looked towards the rune barrier surrounding the guild. "All of you go on ahead. I'll stay back here with Natsu and Gajeel and work out a way to free them. It will take a while but I can free them if I deconstruct the rune formula. Leave it to me!"

"Can you really do it Shrimp?" Gajeel wasn't completely convinced but she seemed confident. She might be able to do what she said.

"Of course! I'll have you two free in no time."

* * *

 _Lucy vs Bickslow. Winner: Lucy_

"NO WAY!" Gajeel shouted, gazing at the runes in shock.

"Yeah! Go Lucy! She beat Bickslow!" Natsu laughed happily.

"That cheerleader can fight?!" Gajeel yelped.

"I GOT IT!" Levy's sudden shout distracted the two dragon slayers from the runes as Levy quickly leapt to her feet and raced to the runes, beginning to rewrite them. "Get ready guys, because when I'm finished, you two will be joining the Battle of Fairy Tail."

"Alright! I'm all fired up!" Natsu shouted.

It took Levy only two more minutes to remove the barrier. "Now listen, you two!" the bluenette said, making sure the dragon slayers were paying attention. "If you get caught in any of Freed's rune traps, this was all for nothing, so you have to split up. Find Laxus, and beat him!"

"You got it, Levy!" Natsu said, racing out of the building, Gajeel hot on his heels.

* * *

At the edge of Magnolia, a hooded figure was gazing at the runes situated around the edge of town.

"Runes...are these...Freed's? Battle of Fairy Tail? What's going on here?" he muttered, his hand instinctively reaching for a sheathed sword on his back, the silver Fairy Tail mark on the back of his hand catching the sunlight.

He slowly stepped through the barrier, watching as the number of participants went up by one. Throughout Magnolia, Fairy Tail members would stop and stare at the nearest rune "scoreboard," wondering who this new competitor was.

"The Thunder Palace too?" the figure muttered, gazing at the lacrima, a sudden gust of wind blowing down his hood to reveal a young man in his late teens with tousled brown hair and grey eyes.

"You have a lot to answer for...Laxus," the man said, slowly making his way into the city.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Freed Justine, a member of Laxus's Thunder God Tribe, watched as Elfman Strauss approached him, distaste evident on his face. How dare Elfman try to appear before him once again? He had already lost to Evergreen, to come back for more was against Freed's rules. Not only that, but Cana Alberona, a mage far stronger than Elfman, and Juvia Lockser, formerly one of the strongest mages in Phantom Lord, had just lost handedly to the Rune User. They had put up some fight, Freed noted glancing at the women, who was currently on the ground with Mirajane hovering above them. He disregarded the fact that Mira was there, she could be taken down easily, and she couldn't use her magic anymore. He gripped his rapier's hilt tightly, flicking a bit of his long green hair out of his face.

"Get ready, Freed! I'm going to take you down! A true man would never use such disgusting tactics as you!" Elfman roared, activating his Beast Soul magic, transforming his right arm into that of a monster. "Man!"

Freed scoffed as Elfman raced towards him. "Do you truly think you can prevail with those injuries? You lost to Evergreen, you have no chance against me," he stated.

"A man never backs down!" Elfman replied angrily, swinging his fist at Freed.

Freed leaned to the side, avoiding the punch, before leaping to the side to dodge the follow up kick from a similarly beast-enhanced leg. The buffoon had no chance, and Freed had to follow through with the rules of the game. So...he had to finish Elfman, for good this time. He hated it. He hated these thoughts he was having...but, they were Laxus' orders.

"I'm sorry about this," Freed muttered as Elfman charged towards him again, though he wasn't sure whether he was apologizing to Elfman, or himself. " **Dark Écriture: Pain**!" Freed swung his blade and a wave of runes appeared and attached to Elfman. The effect was instantaneous, Elfman stopped his charge and fell to the ground, screaming in pain.

"I'm not done! **Dark Écriture: Fear**!" more screams from the downed Elfman, but Freed didn't stop. He wanted the anger and pity he felt for the man to leave his system.

" **Dark Écriture: Suffering**!" Elfman stopped screaming, and simply lay on the ground, practically in a coma.

Freed sighed as he walked over to where Elfman lay. "Perhaps it would have been better to just kill you, I can't stand the sight of you. You can't withstand this level of torture, and you thought you had the right to challenge me? Pathetic." he judged, casting another **Dark Écriture: Pain** , causing Elfman's body to shudder before falling completely still.

"Two down, one more to-"

Freed almost jumped out of his skin from what he felt. He couldn't see it, but he felt a foul magical power, almost right behind him. He slowly turned around, his fear showing as he turned to take in the sight behind him. It was Mira.

He had planned to deal with her quickly and peacefully, she wasn't a threat. After her little sister's death, she turned into a sweet and kind girl who couldn't hurt a fly. But this wasn't that Mirajane. He could see the giant magic circle above her, feel the sheer magic power emitting from her body, which was starting to resemble the magic he was sensing.

Mirajane slowly rose to her feet, her appearance taking on a darker turn. " **Demonic Take Over: Satan Soul**." she muttered, a dark purple magic circle appearing before her.

Freed was able to sum of this whole situation in two words: "Oh...crap."

Mira leapt forward, swinging her now scaled fist at Freed. Freed dodged, Mira's attack smashing into the ground he had been standing on, eyes widening as he saw the large crater created by the attack.

" **Dark Écriture: Wings**!" Freed casted, creating wings made of runes on his back, and leapt into the air to escape her. To his shock, Mira shot off after him, releasing her wings.

She had wings too? This wasn't good. It had barely been ten seconds since Mira activated Satan Soul, and he was already on the defensive. Freed dodged two more of Mira's attacks, only to get knocked back by a kick. Freed tried to recover, but Mira appeared right above him, slamming her fist into him, knocking him all the way back down to the ground. Freed popped back to his feet, and quickly flew off, trying to escape the woman turned demon. To his shock and horror, Mira appeared right behind him, throwing another punch to his face, sending him flying...for the third time in 15 seconds.

' _She's gotten this strong? I knew she was S-ranked before the accident, but still..._ '

Freed looked on in shock as a dark purple magic circle appeared in front of Mira. " **Darkness Stream**!" she shouted, waves of dark purple energy shooting out of the circle, forming into clawed hands. Freed shot off, dodging as many as he could. " **Dark Écriture: Pa** -" Freed was cut off by Mira kneeing him in the stomach, throwing him towards the wastelands near Magnolia. He recovered, and began flying as quickly as he could.

"I have no choice..." Freed decided. "I'll have to use the forbidden technique..." he stopped, watching as Mirajane approached him. "You need a demon to defeat a demon! **Dark Écriture: Darkness**!" a circle of runes surrounded him, and Freed shouted as he felt his body shift, felt himself becoming stronger. His transformation completed, revealing his demonic form. Freed smirked, and countered one of Mira's punches with his own. "Time to turn the tables."

The two humans turned demons surrounded their fists in the respective dark magics, and began hand to hand combat. Much to Freed's surprise, he discovered that Mira somehow still had the upper hand! She grabbed his wrist after dodging one of his punches and threw him into a cave. As Freed tried to recover, Mira appeared before him, placing a hand on his chest.

" **Evil Spark**!" she casted, dark purple lightning erupting from her hand.

Freed screamed as he crashed into the ground, waves of pain spreading through his body.

"H-how is this possible?! Her magic power is still so strong after all of these years! This can't...this can't be the same Mirajane!" he muttered in shock, watching Mira float down from above to hover before him, an evil looking smirk on her face. "However...however...I cannot lose!" Freed shouted, his dark magic erupting out of his body, and a dark red magic circle appeared in front of him. " **Darkness Breath**!" A blast of dark magic shot from the circle, shooting Mirajane out of the cave. To Freed's shock, the attack did nearly no damage. He gritted his teeth and shot after her. " **Darkness Flare Bomb!** " he cried, a dark red orb appearing in his hands, which he slammed into Mira, knocking her into the only lake in the wastelands.

Freed sighed in relief. "Did I get her?" he started in shock as a whirlpool appeared in the water below him. "What is that?!" Mirajane's body slowly became visible, as it was revealed that the whirlpool was the cause of her magic power. " **Evil Explosion**!" she casted, sending a combination blast of the water and dark magic at Freed, throwing him back. As Freed recovered, Mirajane appeared before him, a dark orb crackling with energy in her hands. " **Soul Extinction**!" she shouted, sending an enormous blast of dark magic at Freed.

"No...NOOO!" Freed shouted as the blast connected with him. His demon form and wings started to fade, realizing in shock that the attack had wiped out his magic power. He fell to the ground, defeated, where the battle had started, near Magnolia's river. Mira appeared before him once more, and Freed felt fear start to spread through his body.

' _I...I can't win! I can't beat her_!' he thought desperately as she tackled him, raising a fist enveloped in dark energy to finish him. ' _If that hits...I'm dead_ ,' he realized, closing his eyes and waiting for the end.

It never came. Freed opened his eyes to see Mira's fist barely an inch from his face, shaking for some unknown reason. Freed watched in shock as Mira got off of him and reverted back to her human form.

"Wh-What are you going to do?" Freed asked uncertainly.

Mirajane was silent for a moment, "There's no point to this battle," she whispered.

Freed's eyes narrowed, "Arrogance of the victor, Mirajane? Finish me off!" he begged. "If you finish me, I will have fulfilled my promise to Laxus, and you can pay me back for all the damage I've done! Kill me!"

Her response shocked Freed. "We're comrades. Members of the same guild. We smile together, laugh together, and move forward...together," the white haired woman said softly.

"Shut up!" Freed shouted. "My only ally is Laxus!"

"You don't really believe that, do you? He's not the only one, right? You've already realized this, Freed," she quietly rebuked, glancing over her shoulder to where Elfman, Cana, and Juvia were watching silently. "Although I don't believe that relying on one person only is completely bad, there are plenty of people around you, and they are all connected...to each other, and to you," Mirajane said, smiling, tears in her eyes, grabbing Freed's hand. "See? If you reach out your hand, they're so close. When people realize that it's lonely being alone, they become kind. And you've realized that."

Freed felt tears build up in his eyes. He quickly hid them behind his arm, trying to quell the tears. He couldn't hide the truth any longer. "I didn't..." he sobbed. "I didn't want to do this!"

He heard Mira make a sound of affirmation. "We know, and we understand. Let's all enjoy next year's Fantasia together, ok?"

Freed nodded, sitting up and waving his hand. All around Magnolia, the rune scoreboards would display _Mirajane and Freed: Both remove themselves from contention_.

* * *

Inside the Fairy Tail guildhall, Levy was looking at the rune timer that was counting down the minutes until the Thunder Palace activated. "Only ten minutes left...is Laxus really serious?" she muttered worriedly. She then started pacing around the guildhall. "But…it should work out, right? We still have Erza and Natsu, and Gajeel's out there too! And apparently Mystogan is here too! We've got this!" she rambled, even though she was talking to herself, when a sudden noise stopped her. She turned to the door to see an elderly woman with pink hair wearing a red cloak walk through. Levy knew her on sight.

"Where is the old fool?" the woman asked.

"P-Porlyusica-san! What are you doing here?" Levy asked.

Porlyusica frowned. "I asked you where he was."

"Oh, Master is in the inside clinic!" Levy replied, pointing her in the right direction, before realizing something. "Wait, did you come to treat him?" she asked. Porlyusica didn't respond, and just continued walking to the clinic, Levy following her. The two of them walked to Makarov's bedside. They were silent for a few moments, before Porlyusica finally spoke. "Bring Laxus here," she ordered, much to Levy's surprise. "Bring that fool of a boy who's playing around while his grandfather lies gravely ill."

"Gravely ill? You can't be serious, right?" Levy asked uncertainly.

"Just bring him...please," Porlyusica begged, before turning to face her and saying something that shocked and horrified Levy to the core. "He doesn't have much time left."

Levy's eyes widened. Her mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. She stood there for a few more moments, before turning around and racing out of the guildhall. Porlyusica stared after her for a few seconds, before hearing an odd noise behind her. She whipped around to see a cloaked figure sitting on the windowsill above Makarov's bed, holding a staff that's head was currently glowing with a green light that Porlyusica recognized as healing magic.

"Who are you, and why are you helping him?" Porlyusica demanded.

"It's only natural that a guild member would want to help his master, no?" the figure replied, removing his hood. "It's been a while, Porlyusica-san."

Porlyusica's eyes widened. "Tristan Saelma? Is that you?" she asked.

"Indeed," Tristan replied quietly, focusing most of his attention on Makarov.

"How are you healing him? Your magic is made for anything but healing," Porlyusica said.

"It's the staff. It's called **Fortify** , I...found it on my mission," he said.

"Saelma, I presume you know what's going on here?" Porlyusica asked.

"I've got the gist. Laxus and his Thunder Tribe are a bunch of jerks, trying to take over the guild and apparently destroy Magnolia with the Thunder Palace, Laxus is the only one left, but for some odd reason, the only ones after him are Natsu, Erza, and Mystogan. That about right?"

"Yes. But here's a good question, why aren't you after him?" Porlyusica asked angrily.

"I wanted to see the master first. But I came here and found him like this...well, I have to help him," Tristan muttered quietly.

"Good to see you are still loyal after what happened," Porlyusica snapped, causing Tristan to flinch as if he had been struck.

"Porlyusica-san, please don't bring that up," he requested, a note of pleading in his voice.

"Very well," she said, sitting on one of the beds opposite of Makarov. "Should I just leave this to you?"

"No, please stay. I'm not the most experienced healer, and he's going to need your help especially."

"Understood."

* * *

Laxus sat on the steps of Kardia Cathedral, fuming. "Dammit Freed! How could you lose? Better yet, how did Mirajane get her magic power back?" he slammed his fist into the step, lightning crackling around him. "It doesn't matter. The time is ripe. Soon, I'll have my guild...Jiji...I will surpass you!" he stood, pacing over to the rune timer Freed had set up. "Only six minutes remain until the Thunder Palace activates...will he not step down? The stubborn old fool." he smirked, hearing footsteps behind him. "So, you're finally here, are you? Mystogan?" he said turning around, seeing the blue cloaked and masked, staff wielding member of Fairy Tail. "I didn't think you would be participating in this game!" Laxus laughed.

"If you call off the Thunder Palace right now, it is still possible to pass of... **this** , as mere entertainment," Mystogan said, his voice muffled by his mask.

"My, my, how ignorant. Haven't you heard the rumors guessing who is the strongest in Fairy Tail, you or me?" Laxus asked, brushing off Mystogan's threat.

"Not that I care, but aren't you forgetting Erza and Tristan? And more glaringly, Gildarts?" Mystogan shot back.

"Ha! You think that Gildarts is ever gonna come back? Don't make me laugh. Tristan...well, that has some merit, but he's been gone for more than a year and a half now, so that's no good. And Erza? Not a chance. She has some potential, but she is still weak." Laxus replied.

Mystogan let out a bark of laughter, "Erza, weak? Are you truly that blind?" the masked mage asked rhetorically.

"Hey, come on buddy! I'm saying that I recognize your skills, I'm complimenting you! However...I wonder which one of us is truly stronger?"

"If that is as far as your eyes can see, I wonder who is so ignorant," Mystogan muttered, his mask slipping slightly as he tilted his head, revealing a small slip of blue hair.

"Let's settle this, time to decide who's strongest!" Laxus said, an evil smirk appearing on his face. "Mystogan...or rather...another-"

Laxus was cut off when Mystogan drew when of his staves, and swung it forward, sending a purple blast of magic at Laxus, who countered with a blast of lightning. The two attacks cancelled out, creating an explosion that destroyed many of the cathedrals windows, leaving the two mages standing there, ready for battle.

"Where did you learn about that?" Mystogan demanded.

"Wouldn't you like to know? Maybe you can find out if you beat me!" Laxus replied, smirking.

Mystogan sighed. "You will regret this, Laxus," he intoned, reaching for the remaining four staves on his back. "You will now witness magic you have never seen before."

"Oh my, how scary!" Laxus mocked. "Give me your best! I'll show you just how much stronger I am!"

Mystogan slammed his staves into the ground, creating a semicircle around him, purple energy connecting the staves. " **Tower of Babel** ," he casted, a purple magic circle appearing before him. The ground below Laxus exploded out of nowhere, sending him flying into the air, and much to the Lightning Mage's shock, the entire cathedral exploded. "Seriously, the whole cathedral?!" A pillar of white light appeared from where the cathedral had been, and enveloped Laxus. Suddenly, Laxus was floating in a blank space. To his left, a tear began to appear, two monstrous hands seemingly ripping through space. Before Laxus could react, he was bound in place by tendrils made of shadows. The tear in space got larger, as an enormous monster appeared before Laxus. "What kind of magic is this?!" he shouted frantically, trying to escape. Laxus eyes widened, before he gave a huge smile, lighting erupting around his body. Suddenly, Laxus was back where he had been, in a completely whole Kardia Cathedral, standing before Mystogan.

"Nice try! Did you actually think this illusion would work on me, Mystogan?!" he demanded.

"Impressive," the masked wizard replied. "However..." a three layered magic circle on either side of Laxus.

"What?" Laxus cried.

" **Three Layered Magic Circle: Serpent's Eyes**!" Mystogan muttered, the circles activating.

"What the - I can't move!" Laxus realized.

"Too late," Mystogan decreed, a purple beam of light appearing below Laxus, and five magic circles appearing in the beam. " **Five Layered Magic Circle: Sacred Song**."

Laxus smiled wickedly. "Just who is too late, huh?" he shouted, a large magic circle appearing below Mystogan.

"Crap!" the stave wielder shouted, as Laxus was enveloped in purple light and lighting erupted below Mystogan, both struggling to take the other's attack. The attacks exploded, revealing both fighters mostly unharmed.

Mystogan leapt into the air, using his air magic to levitate. A purple magic circle appeared before him, and tendrils of purple energy appeared from below Laxus, rising to attack him. Laxus quickly reverted to his **Lightning Form** , slipping out before the attack could hit. He reappeared below Mystogan, creating a cage out of lighting that began to crackle with energy. Mystogan's eyes widened as the cage exploded. Much to Laxus' surprise Mystogan appeared before him, only slightly damaged.

" **Mist Form** , huh? You aren't bad, Mystogan!" Laxus decided, grinning broadly.

"LAXUS!" twin shouts came from the entrance to the cathedral. The two combatants turned to see Natsu and Erza standing there, glaring at the Lightning Mage. The two of them realized there was someone else in the room, and turned their attention to him.

"Alright so who's that?" Natsu asked.

"Mystogan?" Erza muttered.

Mystogan immediately turned away from the two newcomers, trying to hide his face.

"Your guard is wide open!" Laxus shouted, throwing off a blast of lightning. It struck Mystogan directly in the face, destroying his hood and mask, revealing a shock of blue hair, much to the surprise of Erza and Natsu. Mystogan turned towards them, revealing his face.

"J-Jellal?!" Erza cried in shock.

"Wait...what?!" Natsu asked in shock, narrowing his eyes.

"Jellal..." Erza said again, taking in his familiar features. Brown eyes, blue hair, red colored tattoo near his right eye, he looked exactly like him! "You're alive? But how?" Jellal had, after all, recently died in the Tower of Heaven incident.

Laxus laughed, "Oh, a familiar face?"

"Oi, speak up! Are you Mystogan or Jellal?" Natsu demanded, his fists catching on fire.

Mystogan - or was it Jellal? - was silent for a few moments before speaking. "Erza, I especially didn't want you to see," he said, much to the Reequip mages surprise. "I am not Jellal. I know of him, but I am not him. I apologize. I leave the rest to you." the stave wielder muttered, disappearing into mist.

"Wait!" Natsu shouted, just a little too late. He slouched, the flames on his fists disappearing. "Man, now I'm all confused, but I'll deal with that later. Laxus, I came here to take you down!" Natsu shouted, before turning to Erza. "You'll let me take him, right Erza?" he asked.

To Natsu's surprise, he didn't get a response. He realized that Erza was in a state of shock, probably from Mystogan's appearance. "Erza!" he yelled again, trying to get her attention. Suddenly, a stream of lightning hit her, making her scream in pain.

"Come on, pay attention, Erza! Come at me!" Laxus shouted, the lightning creating a single blast, knocking Erza to the ground

"LAXUS!" Natsu shouted. "Your fight is with me!"

"Oh, you were here, Natsu?" the Lightning mage mocked, pretending to just notice Natsu. Natsu stood there for a couple of seconds, shell-shocked. He then refocused, his fists reigniting. "I wouldn't underestimate me!"

Laxus smirked, removing his black overcoat and lacrima headphones. Natsu leapt at him, swinging his flame coated fist. Laxus leapt to the side, easily dodging the straightforward attack. "You know, you really should plan this stuff out! This is what makes you so annoying!" Laxus yelled as Natsu charged at him. "Get lost, small fry!" Makarov's grandson shouted, lightning shooting from his body. Natsu leapt over the attack, and launched himself at Laxus. " **Fire Dragon's Talons**!" he yelled, striking Laxus with a flaming foot, which Laxus blocked, using his strength to knock Natsu back. Natsu landed, and immediately flew back on the offensive, this time leading with a flaming elbow. Laxus dodged Natsu's elbow strike, retaliating with a lightning covered kick, stunning Natsu long enough for Laxus to grab him. "You aren't going anywhere!" Laxus said, slamming a lightning covered fist into Natsu's head repeatedly, before sending him flying with a vicious knee to the stomach, sending Natsu into one of the pillars supporting Kardia Cathedral. Natsu stumbled his feet, only for Erza to knock him over again.

"Erza..." Laxus muttered in anticipation.

' _I must forget about Jellal...I mean, Mystogan for the moment. Right now, it's Laxus who needs my attention_ ,' Erza decided, activating her Reequip magic. " **Reequip: Black Wing Armor**!" Erza cast, her Black Wing armor appearing. She launched forward, swinging her sword at Laxus's side, who countered with a fist covered in lightning. "What are those lacrima in the sky, Laxus?" she demanded.

Laxus smirked. "Don't you know? It's the Thunder Palace," he said, dodging another one of Erza's strikes before grabbing her foot as she tried to kick him.

"How dare you! You seriously intend to destroy Magnolia too?" Erza asked.

"It's a new rule!" Laxus laughed, "Although, it really does pain my heart," he said in a mocking voice.

"Natsu, destroy them!" Erza ordered, breaking Laxus' grip on her and leaping away.

"I can't! Or rather, I can, but I'll get taken down too!" the Fire Dragon Slayer responded angrily.

"Body Link Magic?" Erza analyzed.

"Correct! Nobody can touch those lacrima! And even if they could, they would be down for the count!" Laxus said.

"Coward!" Erza shot back.

Laxus' eyes narrowed, and he shot a blast of lightning at Erza. She leapt away, activating her magic once more. " **Reequip: Lightning Empress Armor**!"

"Oh? The Lightning Empress armor? Do you seriously think that will protect you from my lighting?!" Laxus shouted, sending a powerful bolt at Erza, who leapt to avoid it.

"It isn't just about defense, Laxus!" she shot back, sending a lightning bolt of her own from her spear. Laxus blocked it, and quickly reverted to lightning to avoid a second attack. As Erza landed, Laxus began to charge lightning in his palm, a yellow magic circle appearing before him. "Just try and block this, Erza!" he shouted. Erza quickly activated one of her armor's defenses, a shield made of pale blue lightning appearing before her. " **Twin Bolts**!" Laxus cast, two powerful lightning bolts shooting from the magic circle and colliding with Erza's shield.

"Not bad, Erza," Laxus admitted begrudgingly, seeing the scarlet haired woman unharmed.

"When two wizards of the same type clash, the factors that determine the outcome are..." Erza began to say.

"Whoever has the highest magic power, as well as experience and technique," Laxus finished, rolling his eyes. "I've heard it all before, I don't need you to lecture me!"

"You forgot the heart, the most important factor! You should have learned that from the master!" Erza rebuked.

"Oh, I learned alright. I learned that power is what really matters!" Laxus said, a smirk on his face.

Erza gritted her teeth. "You dare…"

"Erza, stop getting all revved up!" Natsu shouted from behind her, getting Erza's attention. "I told you, I was going to beat Laxus!" he pressed.

Erza turned to face him, regarding him for a few moments, before nodding. "Very well. I guess I'll believe in you then," she said, before running towards the cathedral's entrance.

"Hey, where are you going?" Natsu shouted after her, stopping Erza at the doorway. "You aren't going to destroy the Thunder Palace, are you?"

Laxus let out a laugh. "You don't have a chance! There are countless lacrima up there, and even if you could destroy them all at once, you would die as well!" he said.

Erza turned and smiled at him. "But the city would be saved," she said, before racing out the door.

"Erza! I'll believe in you too! Not about whether you can or cannot destroy those lacrima...but to believe you will come back safe!" Natsu shouted after her.

Laxus' eyes widened. He knew Erza was strong, and willing to risk her life for the guild. He knew she would go through with her plan to destroy them all, and Laxus couldn't afford that. "Dammit!" he shouted, racing after her.

" **Fire Dragon's Roar**!" a blast of fire shot from Natsu's mouth, colliding with Laxus and knocking him back. "I'm going to be the one to defeat you, Laxus!" Natsu decreed.

Laxus' face twisted into an expression of utter anger and hate. "You little brat...I'll crush you!" he roared, lightning crackling around his body.

"Bring it!" Natsu retorted, flames erupting from his fists. "I'm just getting warmed up after all!"

* * *

 **Author's Note**

And end Chapter 2! Man that took a while to write! Just so you know, while all techniques will be in bold like this: **Fire Dragon's Iron Fist** , I will create a list of techniques in the author's note only for techniques I personally came up with.

Until next time,

DarkSwordsman1099, signing off for now.

Technique List:

 **Fortify** : A healing staff Tristan posses, apparently quite powerful

 **Three Layered Magic Circle: Serpent's Eyes** : Mystogan creates two sets of three layered magic circles, which together paralyze an opponent. However, if one of the circles is destroyed, the technique will not work.

 **Twin Bolts** : Laxus shoots two equally powerful bolts of lighting at a target. Fun fact, they're kinda like homing missiles, but they're...homing...lightning bolts...yeah


End file.
